Safeguarding Adults Week 2025 is all about prevention
Usually, when people talk about “safeguarding”, they are talking about the policies and procedures we might put into place to respond to concerns of abuse, or to minimise the risk of a person being harmed or abused again. They are also talking about the lessons we might learn from past cases of abuse.
It’s time to change the conversation.
It’s important to learn the right lessons when things go wrong. But it is much better to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place than it is to respond to instances of harm, neglect, and isolation.
Throughout the week, we’re encouraging people to take a closer look at their approach to prevention. We want individuals and organisations to ensure that prevention is embedded in their policies and procedures.
As well as discussing some key safeguarding topics, we will also be sharing stories of instances where early intervention has helped to avoid the crisis point.
We need the courage and the confidence to act on our instincts, and to speak up when something feels wrong. And we need to build resilient communities in which people know their rights and responsibilities, and understand what to do the moment they have concerns.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river.
“We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
– Desmond Tutu
Learn More About the Themes for Safeguarding Adults Week 2025